Amber Alert vs. Endangered Child Advisory: What is the difference?

An Endangered Child Advisory was issued for two Springfield children Tuesday evening after Springfield Police Division officials said they believed the children were in danger.

Both children were later found safe.

The children were allegedly abducted by their non-custodial parent, Khadejha Emony Coran, 22.

As police worked the case, a question surfaced asking: What’s the difference between an Endangered Child Advisory and an Amber Alert?

Here’s what we know:

An Amber Alert is defined as an emergency response system that disseminates information about a missing person (typically a child) by media broadcasting or electronic roadway signs, according to the Amber Alert website, www.amberalert.gov.

Criteria for an Amber Alert includes:

Reasonable belief by law enforcement that an abduction has occurred.

Law enforcement believes the child is in imminent danger of serious harm of death

There is enough descriptive information about the victim and the abduction for law enforcement to issue an Amber Alert to assist in the recovery of a child

The abduction is of a child 17 or younger and the child’s name and other critical data elements have been entered into the National Crime Information Center system.

An Endangered Child Advisory is a part of an Endangered Missing Advisory. An EMA is used for cases involving missing persons that do not meet Amber Alert criteria.

The Springfield missing children case was not a statewide Amber Alert because it did not meet the criteria for a statewide alert, said Lt. Russell Pasqualetti of the Ohio State Highway Patrol in Columbus.

Springfield police did contact the state patrol, which determines when a statewide alert is issued. OSP determined there was no specific or imminent threat to the children, Pasqualetti said.